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Deutch
In Biggles Flies West, Deutch was the first mate of the steamer Seadream and the main villain in the story. Deutch came on board the ship for her final voyage because the regular first mate, Sam Hankin was sick. He quickly became unpopular with the crew because he was always drunk and had a foul mouth. Outbound on the trip to Rio de Janeiro, Deutch was on the bridge. Being drink, he failed to give way and so the ship collided and ran down a ketch. Thereafter, Seadream was caught in a hurrican in the Caribbean and began to flounder. Deutch was one of five people who succeeded in getting away on a boat. After drifting for a fortnight, he was one of the remaining three who managed to get ashore on a small island in Caribbean, together Jack Denver and Charlie Bender. He continued his tyranical ways with the other two castaways, and being the only one who was armed with a knife, the others could do nothing about it. Things came to a head when Jack Denver found a gold doubloon in the wreck of an old galleon, the Santa Anna. In Deutch's haste to get hold of it, he tried to stab Denver but ended up killing Charlie Bender who happened to step in between. What happened after that is recounted in detail in the book. Biggles would later admit that dealing with Deutch taught him never to underestimate his adversaries. This lesson would serve Biggles well for the rest of his life. Certainly, Deutch proved a resourceful and deadly opponent. Jack Denver had refused to divulge where the doubloon had been found even after they had been picked up by a ship and brought to Boston. Deutch tracked Denver to a waterfront inn and stabbed him but failed to find the coin or the letter he had written to his son Dick Denver. Undeterred, Deutch next tracked Joe Dawkin who delivered the letter to Dick in London. Deutch attempted to seize the letter from the boy but was frustrated when Biggles and his friends intervened. He then followed our friends to their apartment in Mount Street and stood at the doorway where he succeeded in listening in to Biggles reading out Jack Denver's letter. Learning that Biggles planned to use Marabina as his jump off point for the search for the treasure in the galleon, Deutch proceeded there first and went into cahoots with the local police chief Mallichore whom he recruited into his enterprise. He also signed on a pilot Harvey and two local ruffians Pedro Martinez and Frisco Jack. With Mallichore's help, Biggles and co. were detained on arrival at Marabina. Deutch and his gang were thus able to steal Biggles' plane, supplies, and Denver's treasure map and set off to search for the galleon on their own. Even on the island itself, Deutch was not out of surprises for Biggles. Just when Biggles thought he was whittling down the size of the opposition, Deutch produced reinforcements in the form of Marabina policemen fetched by Harvey using the stolen aircraft. Perhaps the only act which was out of character for Deutch was when he attempted to offer Biggles terms under a flag of truce. If Biggles would show him where he had hidden the treasure, his gang would offer them a passage back to Marabina. Did Deutch seriously expect that anyone would trust him and take up such an offer? Perhaps Deutch was guilty of underestimating his adversaries as well. Deutch was killed in the final attack on the fort in which Biggles and co. had established themselves and the recovered treasure. Although most of the attackers had been beaten off, Deutch actually succeeded in surmounting the ramparts with a few men. In violent hand-to-hand combat with Biggles, he actually got the upper hand until Dick Denver came to the scene and shot him dead. Deutch was described as short, but broad and obviously of great physical strength, an impression "emphasised by arms that hung nearly down to his knees, like those of a gorilla." Johns goes on to write: "Indeed, he was not unlike a great ape, for the backs of his hands, now slowly opening and closing, were covered with downy red hair. His face was also short and broad and he had a wide, thin-lipped mouth with a large semicircular scare like a crescent moon at one corner. His eyebrows, also red, were "straight, shaggy, and hung over his little restless eyes." Category:People Category:Biggles characters Category:Interwar era characters